BOSTON _ With one answer, Rajon Rondo stopped the speculation.
"I'm not playing," Rondo said.
And so the Bulls turned to Isaiah Canaan for Wednesday's critical Game 5.
Despite coach Fred Hoiberg calling Rondo's return a "longshot" on Tuesday, Rondo's potential availability gained momentum because he scrimmaged in Chicago after Hoiberg made his comments and then worked out when the team arrived here Tuesday night.
But Rondo said he still has done little with his right hand and used both sessions mostly for conditioning purposes and for left-handed floaters.
"I got an X-ray (Tuesday). The thumb is still the same. It's still broke," Rondo said. "I knew last week it wasn't going to be fixed in a week. My finger is broken.
"I don't know if people misunderstood what the cast was for. I had a torn ligament in my wrist so that was the purpose of the cast. My thumb and my cast were two different things."
Rondo ditched the cast on Monday. He sounded iffy at best for his chances to play in Friday's Game 6 and said if he did return, the injury would need to be protected and can't take a numbing shot.
"I have a big cast on it while I'm playing so it's not really effective," Rondo said. "It's hard to grip the ball when I got stuff like this on my hand.
"I'm not worried about somebody else slapping it. I'm worried about the way I play _ diving on the floor, trying to get my hand in on loose balls. I play on instincts. I can't go in there with my finger tucked and trying to steal the ball. The game doesn't work like that. I don't want to hurt my teammates trying to be a hero and be 65 percent. I'm doing what's best for my team and trying to support from the sidelines and get these guys to understand what's going on with the gameplan."
Rondo said the outcome of Game 5 wouldn't affect his decision on whether he plays in Game 6. Only the status of his thumb will.
"My thumb is the same as it was last week," he said. "I think I'm Wolverine but it hasn't healed that quickly yet."
Hoiberg reiterated the "longshot" status of a Rondo return during this series. And so Canaan is making his first start of the season after Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams struggled.
Hoiberg wouldn't publicly reveal who the backup point guard will be. Canaan is starting for his ability to apply full-court pressure on Isaiah Thomas.
"You've got to try and make it as uncomfortable as possible getting into their offense. I thought Isaiah, especially coming out in the third quarter, really set the tone (in Game 4)," Hoiberg said. "That's when the game shifted. It's when we went on a run, when we got up and our ball pressure was excellent.
"Knowing at times he's going to get behind us and get downhill, we just have to do a good job of trying to stay in front, make him take tough, contested shots. He's obviously an unbelievable player. He's a guy that's going to get to the basket, but you have to apply pressure to try and make it as difficult as possible."
